I am hoping that Comfort is producing the movie with qualified professionals providing the dialogue. I am not counting on it as Comfort is not known for staying within the bounds of his expertise, but that is my hope.
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Depression and Suicide
- Thread starter evangelist6589
- Start date
I won't be watching it. While I have plenty of faith, I also know that w/o the appropriate medications, life will not be pleasant for me. I remember the days of thinking seriously about running my car into a jersey wall, praying that I wouldn't wake up in the morning when I tried going off the medication before. There's no way I'm going to live like that again.
I take meds for depression/PTSD/Anxiety and chronic pain. This is what it takes for me to function...barely.
However, Ray Comfort is NOT an acknowledged expert in mental illnesses and TBN is not where I'd go looking for good theology or advice.
So what you are saying is that if Evan gives you advice - you will probably do the opposite!
So what you are saying is that if Evan gives you advice - you will probably do the opposite!
More than likely!!! Especially after reading about his lemonade.
I worked on an impatient psychiatric ward for 3 years (Walter Reed) when I was in the Army. I know only a part of the struggles people have with depression, and I can’t imagine the pain so many live with on a daily basis.
My concern here is that if Comfort handles depression and suicidal ideologies as carelessly as he sometimes handles Scripture it can be dangerous to those suffering. I’m sure he has good intentions, but he had good intentions when he made a fool of himself with the banana fiasco. He has a tendency to go beyond the gifts God has given him in evangelism to areas that are far beyond his qualification and knowledge base. I truly believe LivingWaters stopped being about reaching the lost with the gospel and started being about Ray Comfort several years ago (probably when postmodernism started fading and WOTM lost relevance with the culture it was trying to reach).
That said, I really do hope that the movie will not turn out this way. I hope it will bring the issue of suicide, depression, and those suffering from depression to the surface and perhaps save lives. This is one time I'd love to be proven wrong.
God Bless you! My son did 2 tours in the sandbox and came home a different young man. He has PTSD from the things he saw and had to do. He has a TBI from an IED that blew up under his tank. He has GI issues due to the fires in the desert and the yuk that contaminated everything. He's gotten help from the VA, their mental health department and their GI department. He's finally lost most of the anger that he came home with and is becoming the young man I knew again. Please keep him in your prayers. His name is Joshua, he's 30 years old and lives in Denver. Thank you
Has he been to the 16th st Mall and heard some open air preaching?
Tacky. Do not be so self-absorbed. It is not always about you.
Can I be tacky - has everyone who has commented on this thread, also commented on the thread entitled Mark 16:15
Correct. I am not the only open air preacher down there.
Oh yes, the open air preachers at the 16th street Mall...gotta love 'em. Shouting and railing at everybody and nobody at the same time. The guys that are the joke of the mall. Where do you hang out? By the diagonal Starbucks? B&N? It's been quite a few years since I've been there. My younger son used to busk there last summer.
Considering that my son has a full time job and is going to school full time, it's not like he'd be hanging out there...you know, doing productive things to support himself.
Are you trying to tell us that your son pays his bills and is not in debt.?
Well, I know he has a car payment and a mortgage...he bought a new car earlier this year, and the house just a couple of months ago. So, I guess he pays his bills. He never seems to be broke though...guess he learned the money management lessons I tried to teach him. He's really an amazing young man and I'm proud to be his mama.
I agree with your perspective. My view is that depression can result from physical problems in the brain,dealing with a life problem, genetics, or combinations of these 3 factors. Modern medicine has found physical causes for depression. Basically, it's due to problems in carrying messages across the synapses in the brain and there are medications which can help to fix this. I do believe that our faith and the prayers of other Christians certainly help as do exercise, diet and changes in lifestyle.
I've had issues with depression as has my identical twin brother. I think the problem is largely genetic with us. (We also had to be operated on for a thoracic aortic aneurysm in exactly the same place, right next to the heart!) A deacon in my former church once told me that depression was due to demon possession. Hey, they believed in that sort of thing back in the Middle Ages. I not only get angry at this kind of assertion by someone who is not qualified as an expert in the area of depression. but I believe he's leading people away from getting the professional help they need.
For a person of faith, I believe that the best person to consult with for depression is a Christian Psychiatrist who is qualified in both the medical and emotional aspects of the disease but also in adding the power of Christian counseling. I met such a person in church one Labor Day Sunday when the pastor asked us to turn to the person on both sides and tell them what your profession was. I do not believe this was an accidental meeting. I truly believe that God found for me exactly what I needed at that point in time. So, there is most certainly a place in the treatment for depression for a faith based approach. It's just not the total answer.
Do you believe in psycho babble?
I think this was covered in the part about the deacon who believed depression was due to demon possession (although I'm sure a possessed person may also be depressed, there are also plenty of Christians who struggle with clinical depression). From what I gather the answer was "no".
I remember working with bipolar patients on the ward. We had one woman who, when manic, would spend money freely buying things she could not afford (cars, clothes, mikes lemonade). But when she became depressed she would magnify even more the difficult state she was in (she felt hopeless and suicidal). The reason she suffered these episodes was when she was on medication she felt normal....normal to the extent of not needing medication, and she would stop taking them and spiral down.
So tell me...do you have ANY clue what it's like to deal with mental health issues? If not, then hush your mouth about "psycho babble". I do not need or want you to attempt to explain my particular set of issues. Your spewing is probably one of the factors that keeps people OUT of the church and away from Christ. I've seen my share of open air preachers and they're usually pretty rude pointing people out and saying "do you know you're going to HELL???". They get pretty upset when they get answered with scripture from us "heathens" (I was on the beach at the time wearing beach attire).
Fortunately, we don't have many of those sorts here in "sin city"...but I'll admit it would be entertaining to see one or two go up against the types of folks you see on the strip. It makes the 16th street mall look quite tame in comparison.
Not the kind you try to pass off
People love their sin. I pray God will send open air preachers and street evangelist to sin city.
I think they've actually made any sort of busking illegal on the strip. It keeps the chances of violent encounters down. But, since you probably don't know much of anything about this city, I'll take your statement for what it's worth.